Conversation

Materialism in American Culture

Each of the following texts presents a viewpoint on materialism in American culture:

Sources

  1. Henry David Thoreau, from “Economy”
  2. John Kenneth Galbraith, from The Dependence Effect
  3. Phyllis Rose, Shopping and Other Spiritual Adventures in America Today
  4. Wendell Berry, Waste
  5. Juliet Schor, The New Consumerism
  6. Joan Smith, Shop-happy
  7. Virginia Postrel, In Praise of Chain Stores
  8. Scott DeCarlo, Forbes Price Index of Luxury Goods Keeps Pace with Inflation (table)

After you have read, studied, and synthesized these pieces, enter the conversation by responding to one of the prompts on page 500–01.